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Wednesday, February 01, 2017

Record editorial on sanctuary city brouhaha

Record editorial agrees with me, and in record time. Oh what a beautiful morning….

If anyone was wondering if Donald Trump’s presidency could match the tenor of Donald Trump’s campaign, it’s pretty clear it can — and does.

From his opening salvos, he’s digging in. His Cabinet picks are bringing ire, but his immigration law is spreading fire.

Everyone has an opinion, it seems. But very few we’ve seen have been anything but polarizations of the issue. There are two definite sides and little in the middle.

And it’s spinning off satellite issues with just as little common ground.

Ask Mayor Nancy Shaver.

A Facebook post about her great grandfather’s immigration and contributions to our country set off a social media feeding frenzy.

We understand that social media is habitually hungry for that, but it can be eye opening anyway.

First, Shaver wasn’t preaching the Gospel of sanctuary cities in her memory of her great granddad. And when she answered a Facebook post that she’d be happy to look into it, it wasn’t a sanction of the policy. It was a boilerplate response for her.

If there’s a modicum of interest in any position within the city, she and the rest of the board will listen. What happens from there is a matter of politics. Listening is a matter of inclusion.

But it got us to wondering if other local elected officials had come out for or against sanctuary cities. We did not find any. But our two new freshmen Congressmen from Northeast Florida have weighed in on the larger immigration issue.

Rep. Al Lawson was the one who unseated longtime Rep. Corrine Brown in the newly redrawn District 5.

So that’s one plus for the state Supreme Court’s efforts at slicing up the political pie.

Democrat Lawson’s stand was short and to t he point: “I am disappointed by Mr. Trump’s order banning Muslims entering our country. This is irresponsible and dis honors our values as a nation.

Our other new member, former Duval County Sheriff Rep. John Rutherford, was not surprisingly Republican: “The United States has been and will continue to be a nation of immigrants that welcomes people from around the world that love this land. But we must protect our citizens first … I support increased vetting of travelers from other countries that are known sponsors and harbors of terrorism…”

Nothing surprising on either stance.

Shaver says that she was taken off guard by the heated responses to her comment. She says the experience has taught her a lesson. “The temperature today is so high …” she said. It says my job, or a key role, is for me to keep the temperature down … It’s a challenge for all of us.”